Written Answers Monday 4 August 2008

Scottish Executive

Animal Welfare

Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent assessment it has made of the effectiveness of the enforcement of welfare standards for pigs.

Richard Lochhead: The effectiveness of animal welfare enforcement is reviewed at animal welfare liaison meetings, held on a regular basis between staff of animal health divisional offices, local authorities, the Scottish SPCA and stakeholders. Animal health staff also meet local authority and Scottish SPCA colleagues both at national and local level to discuss individual cases and possible improvements in resolving welfare issues generally.

  Animal health staff visit farms to monitor the compliance with pig welfare legislation. Both random visits and visits in response to complaints are undertaken, with priority given where a complaint indicates a serious welfare problem. Any farm where poor welfare standards were identified at an initial inspection is subjected to a further inspection.

  Animal welfare enforcement is not limited to prosecutions and in less serious cases enforcement officers adopt an advisory and educational approach, as this can be a better way to improve and maintain animal welfare on farms. Serious breaches of animal welfare legislation generally result in a case being submitted to the Procurator Fiscal, while less serious cases will often result in the serving of an improvement notice. Animal health staff report that compliance with notices is high and they are an effective and proportionate way to enforce welfare legislation before resorting to a prosecution.

Health

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many patients who have sustained injury as a result of fighting overseas with HM forces have been treated by the NHS in each year since 2002, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: For patients admitted into secondary care, Information and Statistics Division (ISD) of National Services Scotland record the cause of injury. It is therefore possible to indicate the number of hospital admissions by NHS board as a result of "operations of war" since 2002. The data does not consider the location of the injury or occupation of the individual. It is therefore not necessarily a member of the armed forces who is recorded. In Scotland, there were zero hospital admissions as a result of "operations of war" in 2001-02 and 2002-03; and less than five in each year from 2003-04 to 2006-07. Due to the small numbers involved and for reasons of confidentiality and disclosure control, board level statistics are not presented.

  It is not possible to identify those who received any other form of NHS treatment, such as physiotherapy in the primary care sector, as a result of operations of war, as this data is currently not collected.

Health

Patricia Ferguson (Glasgow Maryhill) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that service users should be consulted before any changes are made to the provision of health services in their area.

Shona Robison: To fulfil their responsibilities for public involvement, NHS boards should routinely communicate with and involve the people and communities they serve in designing, developing and delivering the health care services they provide for them.

  A copy of the revised draft guidance on Informing, Engaging and Consulting the Public in Developing Health and Community Care Services, was included as Annex 3 of our recent consultation on independent scrutiny and is available on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/10/26111633/7.

Higher Education

Marlyn Glen (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) employment, (b) unemployment and (c) further study or training rates were six months after graduation for graduates in (i) French, (ii) German, (iii) Spanish, (iv) Italian and (v) other European languages from Scottish institutions in the latest year for which information is available.

Fiona Hyslop: The statistics the member requested are shown in the following table.

  Destination of Full-Time Higher Education Graduates from Scottish Institutions Six Months after Graduating by Subject Area (%): 2005-06

  

 
 Total
 Study/Training
 Permanent Home Employment
 Temporary Home Employment
 Overseas Employment
 Believed Unemployed
 Other


 Total
 100%
 21%
 29%
 15%
 18%
 5%
 12%


 French
 100%
 24%
 28%
 17%
 16%
 5%
 10%


 German
 100%
 24%
 24%
 16%
 18%
 3%
 16%


 Spanish
 100%
 20%
 20%
 15%
 17%
 7%
 20%


 Italian
 100%
 23%
 43%
 10%
 3%
 10%
 10%


 Other European Language
 100%
 15%
 32%
 12%
 26%
 5%
 11%



  Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA), Scottish Funding Council (SFC).

  Notes:

  "Believed unemployed" includes graduates from higher education institutions that are looking for employment, further study or training or are due to start a job in the next month plus graduates from FEC who have no arrangement for further study or employment.

  "Other" destinations include those who are unable to work, looking after the home or family, taking time out in order to travel, or are not otherwise included under an alternative heading.

  The overall response rate, including both HESA and SFC data, for the subject groups in the above table was 78%.

Joint Ministerial Committees

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will report the outcome of the Joint Ministerial Committee meeting held on 25 June 2008 and, in particular, whether any agreement was reached about better co-ordination of UK and Scottish marine legislation.

Richard Lochhead: I refer the member to the answer to question S3F-947 on 26 June 2008. First Minister questions can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/business/officialReports/meetingsParliament/or-08/sor0626-02.htm#Col10250.

  In addition, a copy of the joint statement issued following the plenary meeting on 25 June 2008 is available in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number 46219).

Justice

Aileen Campbell (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many incidents of theft of fuel from motor vehicles have been reported in each (a) parliamentary constituency, (b) police force area and (c) local authority area in each of the last (i) five years and (ii) 15 quarters.

Kenny MacAskill: Information on thefts at the level of detail requested is not held centrally.

Marine Environment

Robin Harper (Lothians) (Green): To ask the Scottish Executive whether, if Marine Scotland is to be part of the Scottish Government, whether its advice to ministers will be published and how it will operate transparently.

Richard Lochhead: We have yet to decide on the appropriate status for Marine Scotland and its detailed governance arrangements. It will be important for it to be seen to operate openly and transparently although also to ensure it can do so efficiently and effectively including, for example, through uninhibited exchanges of views and advice.

Medication

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Medicines Consortium regarding the prescribing of antipsychotic medication in care homes.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Executive has had no discussion with the Scottish Medicines Consortium with regard to the prescribing of antipsychotic medication in care homes.

Medication

Irene Oldfather (Cunninghame South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with the Scottish Medicines Consortium regarding the prescribing of antipsychotic medication to people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

Shona Robison: The Scottish Government has had no discussion with the Scottish Medicines Consortium with regard to the prescribing of antipsychotic medication to people with Alzheimer’s disease or dementia.

NHS Hospitals

Jackson Carlaw (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive who is responsible for cleaning Vale of Leven Hospital.

Nicola Sturgeon: An in-house NHS team is responsible for all domestic services at the Vale of Leven Hospital.

NHS Staff

Rhona Brankin (Midlothian) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many school nurses there were in 2007-08.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-14825 on 18 July 2008. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/wa.search .

Teachers

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will consider differentiating between teachers (a) retiring and (b) leaving for other reasons in its annual teacher workforce planning exercise.

Fiona Hyslop: For the purposes of teacher workforce planning it is only necessary to know the number of teachers leaving each year. The teacher employment working group is currently examining teacher workforce planning processes to see if they are fit for purpose.